Chapter 150
He was grateful he'd deactivated Divine Transformation, because while people could Appraise him and quickly figure out he was a person, there was no way that TJ could expect rational initial reactions from anyone, himself included. As such, he rolled his shoulders, saw that his clothing was mostly all whole, and put his spear in his hand with the butt resting on the ground.
"I'm fine! Just took care of this golem over here!" TJ called back once he was fairly confident that he'd taken care to make himself appear like a regular person again. Curious faces poked around a corner, and TJ waved back at them.
"I'll stay over here, if you'd like. Just checking to see if there's anyone I recognize over here I can help. If not, I'll help other people too. Looking to get some levels and experience, so if you just want me to move along, I can do that too."
WIthout Luz in his arms, depending on him for safety, TJ was much more willing to extend some level of trust to the people he came across. The faces multiplied until a dozen people hesitantly walked out into the remains of the street to see what he was going to do. He just nodded and waited for someone to speak to him.
"Hi there." The woman who strode forward was matronly, and made TJ think of Rebekkah. He hoped her children had all returned safely.
"Hello again." TJ nodded. "I can shake your hand if you'd like, or I can stay a little ways back."
"I shake hands, friend." The woman replied as she stuck her hand out. TJ took it as she continued, "My name's Janice. This is a collection of my friends and family back here. We can go through introductions in a minute here."
"My name's TJ." He nodded as he looked around the people all around. Most were dirty, but also mostly healthy. Appraising Janice let him know that she was a Disciple and level 18, but her grip was firm enough that TJ wondered what her Occupation could be. Her Strength couldn't come just from her Bloodline, but despite his curiosity, there was no reason for TJ to pry. Instead, he rolled his shoulders.
"I don't know if you've been out to Tempe, but there's some people trying to build a community at ASU campus. I haven't heard of anyone getting turned away, so if you're looking to join with a community, that's the best place I've seen. Not that I've been able to travel too far anywhere." TJ shrugged. Unsurprisingly, as soon as he mentioned a full community being somewhere, most of the people perked up. Something inside of him sneered at the weakness of a pack animal. They needed a community to survive? Why couldn't they stand on their own two feet?
TJ tamped down the coatl in him and listened as a dozen curious people with a dozen questions each swarmed him.
"That's enough outta you folks." Janice swatted two of the closest people away. "He's got some information, and I'll ask him, but we also shouldn't be annoying the poor man. Now, more than anything, I just have two questions that I think will suffice for the rest of us for now."
"Shoot." TJ replied, curious what she was going to say.
"How dangerous is the journey there?" Janice's eyes seemed to pierce into TJ's soul, and he wondered if she had a Skill that let her read people.
"For me, it was easy. The only Copper, or even Elite tier I encountered was this thing." He nodded at the crater that was all that remained of the golem. "There are monsters, but I didn't see too many. Maybe a couple dozen the whole way? They stayed out of my way. But I'd guess with as many people as you have here, you could make the journey without too many struggles."
"Ok." She seemed fine with that answer, and asked her second question. "What do you think of this community?"
TJ pursed his lips. After thinking for a couple seconds, he decided on how exactly he was going to answer. "In general, I don't think they're bad people. I think Sven, the leader of what he's calling the New Republic, has a somewhat extreme view of how this whole apocalypse thing is gonna shake out, but I don't think he's wrong either. Given the scarcity of resources and everything else, I'd consider him pretty charitable, and he's publicly stated that he intends to ensure that everyone is well fed and sheltered. Maybe there'll be something like second class citizens eventually, but I doubt there'll be anything approaching what we were used to ever appearing again."
Janice nodded slowly. "We'll think about it."
"Sure." TJ shrugged. "If you're gonna go, I'd probably suggest sooner rather than later, because a straight shot from here to campus is where I was just travelling myself. Much lower probability of coming across a Copper tier enemy. If not, I might swing by here on my way back later this evening and see you in passing."
"Sounds good, TJ." Janice spoke. A couple of her "followers" seemed like they wanted to ask some questions, but they held back. TJ nodded and then, without another word, jogged off. Well, for him, it was a jog, but given his Agility was, with all his bonuses, nearly 300, he blazed past them fast enough that the wind giggled at the air he disturbed. More and more, the wind's words were audible to him, and TJ had to push its constant interruptions down, or else he would find himself whisked away as the air explored every part of the atmosphere.
There were no more monsters that immediately appeared for him, but TJ continued to range further into Mesa, the streets staying in their consistent one mile grid. Even so, the streets were being overrun by more and more grass and the sprouting seedlings of trees. Along the streets, where trees and bushes had been planted to give some measure of shade in the deadly summers, the few towering plants that had survived the years were flourishing, making the land appear like something TJ had never expected. When he looked north, where the desert was just a few miles away, it was still the desert. Sure, the scrub and brown plants were larger and more vivacious than before, but they remained the hardy plants that survived Arizona's harsh summers without human intervention.
Then, in the bounds of the city, where people cared for ficus, elm, and oak, the trees grew larger and more impressive than he'd ever seen in his home state. In fact, they were so large and, somehow, filled with moisture, that TJ could feel the change in the air as he strode under the foliage. The cooler, wetter air was slower to his senses, though when it met the hotter dry air nearby, the air began to swirl. He could vaguely remember meteorological information he'd heard when younger, but how cool wet air and dry warm air interacted specifically wasn't something he recalled.
With a thought, TJ had the two types of air mix and mingle, and a reaction began to occur. Even the lightning seemed to approve of the experiment, and TJ threw himself deeper into it, with more and more of his MP draining into the small tempest that fought to burst into being. There was a slight hint from his Divine Authority that this was nearly a Storm. He nearly regretted Stormcaller in that second, but instead, he focused on—
A set of claws cut deep into TJ's back and he fell to the ground. With a curse of pain, TJ activated Divine Transformation and whipped around to see his attacker. There, a strange creature that looked like a mix between a three-toed sloth and a vampire licked its claws. While it shuddered in obvious pleasure, TJ Appraised the monster.
Asanbosam (Copper (I)), 19
It wasn't elite. A random Copper tier thought it could ambush him and survive the day? Pure foolishness. TJ lunged forward, but it danced back and leapt into the tree overhead. As he pursued it, TJ saw that, under its long, lank fur, its claws and teeth were metal. It seemed to laugh at him, but TJ didn't allow it to continue its mockery of him. With a thought, he stretched further and inhaled to pull it back towards him.
His prey fell through the air, and satisfaction filled the coatl. It poised its claws to try to gouge out his eyes, but TJ shifted to avoid it. Strangely, it bared its teeth and TJ felt his body slow, unable to react as quickly as it had before Then, while his spine stiffened, a dozen more Asanbosams appeared and leapt onto his back. There, the wound from his initial ambusher still flowed slowly from the shallow gash that traveled down the majority of his spine. As they lapped up his blood and shrieked their excitement, TJ's body slowed further as his jaws caught his first attacker's side. It screeched, but TJ showed no mercy as he ripped it to pieces.
Panic set in. These creatures… were a pack-hunting vampire? Fortunately, though his body was held nearly completely still, his mind was not. TJ cursed having used his MP so frivolously, but he had enough to do what was needed. Only a moment's concentration was necessary for him to create a large scythe of wind and throw it down the length of his body. The first five didn't have the opportunity to react and were sliced in half. Their screams and misting blood warned the next five, which attempted to leap away and managed to do so only by losing at least a limb apiece. The final two survived largely unscathed, but TJ wasn't done. With five of his tormentor's dead, the hold over his blood weakened significantly and he roared his challenge at the mangy vampires.
His jaws snapped hungrily at three of the dead beasts. As they went down his throat, many of the others seemed to come to a conclusion. With half of their number dead and most of the rest injured, they fled in every direction. TJ wanted to pursue, but with his body slowed and his MP below 1,000, he decided against it. After a minute or two, his body returned to normal, and TJ just let himself relax. Even so, he didn't stop using Divine Transformation. In fact, he was impressed as he looked down and saw that he hadn't left behind his spear when he'd transformed in the first place.
Just a couple weeks ago, he struggled to bring along any of his clothes, but now, he could use his Skill and bring a backpack full of Copper tier materials, a bunch of different pieces of equipment, and without a second's thought. With a grimace, he turned his attention forward and tried to feel the Ananbosams' presence. He refused to be ambushed like that again, and this knowledge would help save him. They moved amazingly quietly through the trees, as if the branges welcomed the monsters' presence.
As they fled into the distance, leaving corpses and severed limbs in their wake, TJ turned his attention to what was left behind. Their claws, rusted, seemed to be at least as strong as iron or something similar, since they'd been able to cut into him so easily. With the rust, the claws might be some type of alloy heavily featuring iron, but, for the first time, TJ had a real option to use metal with his Savage Skills.
Still unwilling to transform back, TJ put two of the remaining corpses' hands in his mouth and dragged them along as he continued east. It'd been long enough that he considered maybe turning back sometime soon, but instead of giving up, he continued deeper into Mesa. Crumbled buildings and dilapidated streets accompanied his every movement, and when people heard him coming, most just stayed out of the way. Here, where the residential population was denser, it seemed like there were thousands of people on every city block. That was enough to get TJ to feel a little more assured in humanity's survival, but they seemed to refuse to set up a true community or defense. As he sighed, unsure of what to do to try to find the other survivors from his Tutorial, a voice called out,
"TJ! Hey, stay there! I'll be right over!"